Utah state theocrat Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, has unleashed his latest assault on our personal liberties. His proposed HB108 makes it a crime to play online games for money.

Worse, a recent Sandstrom amendment demands that Internet service providers block access to any website involved in any form of "Internet gambling." This form of censorship is blatantly unconstitutional. I know it, you know it, and the American Civil Liberties Union knows it.

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I’m sure the attorneys at E*Trade and Allstate will also be amused to learn that their Utah customers could face jail time for trading stocks or buying insurance online. After all, Americans have gambled away billions more in these industries than in all the world’s online games combined.

And since banking on religion is the biggest gamble of all, I sure hope Sandstrom doesn’t pay his tithing by transferring money to his church over the Internet; that would certainly constitute illegal gambling.

Utah isn’t Sandstrom’s personal Mormon theocracy. We don’t tell him which scriptures he can’t read, so he should stop wasting taxpayers’ time and money on fascist bills like this.

Todd Ouzts

Draper